Hi Sharlene,

We recently noticed this very same thing when we downloaded our CSV files from Serials Solutions! We concluded that using the Excel “wizard” to convert the column format manually from “general” to “text” while opening the file from Excel seems to be the best option. When we had Excel 2007, we used to just click into the file and  it would automatically format correctly, but alas, this new upgrade is not that way.

Hope this helps,

Trish Tlapak

Library Technician I, Electronic Resources and Serials

Knowledge Center, University of Nevada Reno

ptlapak@unr.edu

682-5615

From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Sharlene LaForge
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 2:44 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Excel 2010 and CSV files

We recently upgraded to Excel 2010 which has become a problem when opening CSV files.
When opening a CSV files with issn's that have three leading 0's, (0001-6349 Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica) Excel automatically changes the format to a date jan-and then a number.  This one translates as jan-49. 

Does anyone know how to change options so it won't automatically change the text?

Hopefully, someone else on this list (Serial Specialists) has encountered this and has come up with a simple solution.

Thanks in advance!
Sharlene LaForge
California State University, Library
Long Beach, CA 90840
(562) 985-8188